1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a safety device for a furniture hinge assembly of the type used for mounting a door on a furniture carcass, and is particularly concerned with hinge assemblies of the type wherein a base plate is secured to the furniture carcass and the main part of the hinge mechanism is secured to the door and then releasably secured to the base plate by means of a mounting plate to which a hinge arm is secured through suitable adjusting means.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A hinge assembly of the above type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,297 to Grass dated Nov. 21, 1989, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. The hinge assembly of U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,297 comprises:
a base plate having means for attachment to a furniture carcass; PA1 a mounting plate releasably attached to the base plate; PA1 a hinge arm or cover bracket secured to the mounting plate via adjusting means and carrying the actual hinge mechanism on which the door is hung; and PA1 a spring-mounted retaining lever held on the mounting plate and engaging the base plate with a snap fit to retain the mounting plate on the base plate. The retaining lever is in the form of a rocker and has a projecting branch which can be used to release the lever manually from its engagement with the base plate and thus to allow the hinge mechanism to be detached from the base plate.
With this known arrangement, there is a risk that the mounting plate may be unintentionally released from the base plate by accidental knocking or catching of the projecting branch of the spring-loaded lever.